Monthly Archive for December, 2016

: December, 2016

A business with a 144-year history, BJ Services is again emerging as a standalone company after Houston based Baker Hughes said Friday it finalized the sale of a majority stake in the hydraulic fracturing and cementing business. The new company will operate as an independent joint venture — it won’t be publicly traded — and … …

The number of rigs drilling for oil jumped up slightly this week even during the holiday slowdown as energy companies respond to higher oil prices. Small gains in both Texas’ Permian Basin and Eagle Ford Shale led the way for the national growth with two rigs added in both regions. The overall rig count grew … …

With the first U.S. commercial offshore wind farm scheduled to begin operation off the coast of Rhode Island before the end of the year, the federal government continues to open more of the Atlantic coastline up to wind energy developers. Federal offshore leasing is expected to reach more than 1.2 million acres next year, up … …

CARLSBAD, N.M. — Oil services company Halliburton has announced plans to bring about 200 jobs to the Permian Basin, an area which covers southeast New Mexico and parts of western Texas. The Current-Argus reports that Halliburton spokeswoman Emily Mir says in a Wednesday statement there will be job opportunities in various parts of the basin, … …

Solar power had a banner year in the U.S. in 2016, and after years of slow growth in Texas, the industry is starting to pick up, according to a year end report from the Solar Energy Industries Association, a national trade group. Texas ranked third in the nation for most solar capacity installed in the … …

Brent oil, the global benchmark, is headed for its first annual advance in four years before supply cuts from OPEC and other producing nations next month intended to stabilize the market and reduce swelling global inventories. Futures dropped 0.2 percent in London, trimming this year’s increase to 52 percent. U.S. crude inventories unexpectedly expanded for … …

The shale boom has made Texas oil land some of the most sought-after in the world. Texas deals account for almost one-quarter of the total money spent on oil-and-gas acreage this year, according to year-end figures gathered by the energy research firm IHS Markit. Texas hasn’t represented such a large portion for 20 years, at … …

With Donald Trump set to enter the White House in January and populists on the march across Europe, political risk will loom large in 2017. Cautious investors may find stability in an unfamiliar place: the oil market. A deal between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other producers to limit output next year won’t … …

FMC Technologies and Technip SA plan to formally combine their companies as early as Jan. 16, according to a joint statement. Houston-based FMC, a subsea systems provider and oil and gas services company, and French engineering and construction firm Technip will join forces to form a large, global drilling services company. The companies announced on … …

By Rye Druzin, San Antonio Express-News Oil and gas producers and service operators are hoping to continue their upward momentum in 2017 as oil and gas prices stabilize, according to a new survey. More than half of all firms responding to the quarterly Energy Survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas reported increasing levels … …